Administrative and Engagement Core

Our investigator team at Columbia University and the University of Cape Town, through a nearly thirty-year collaboration under the Khayelitsha Cervical Cancer Screening Program (KCCSP) have conducted some seminal clinical trials demonstrating the safety and efficacy of HPV-based SAT, both with treatment within 2-6 days and with on-site, same-day treatment.3-5 HPV-based SAT is included in South Africa’s national guidelines.6 Like most countries, South Africa is grappling with how to operationalize and promote uptake and integration of HPV-based screening in public health and clinical care settings. Aligned with RFA-CA-22-019 the KCCSP has been formalizing its longstanding partnership with the Western Cape Department of Health (WCDoH) with the mission to accelerate the integration and scale-up of evidence-based interventions for cervical cancer elimination among individuals in resource-constrained settings. Under this formal partnership, we propose the Empilisweni (a place of healing) Initiative for advancing implementation of cervical cancer control. The Center seeks to support the WHO’s global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer by the end of this millennium by integrating scalable, affordable HPV-based point-of-care screen-and-treat (HPV-POC) strategies, by fostering effective collaboration, coordination, decision-making, resource and knowledge sharing regionally, and building implementation capacity in local implementers, researchers, and stakeholder community. Success of the Center’s goals rest on the principles that shape strong administration and best practices for stakeholder engagement. MPIs; Denny (UCT), and Kuhn (CUIMC), who founded KCCSP, will be joined by MPI Castor (Contact: CUIMC), Mbatani (UCT), Saidu (UCT), and Arendse (UCT/WCDoH) in the daily management to ensure that the Center’s productivity, performance meet its goals. MPIs Shelton (CUIMC) and Tehranifar (CUIMC), who lead the capacity building core and research project 1, respectively, have experience in community engagement and will ensure that all aspects of the Center's responsibilities is met. The leadership team will be completed with the addition of another WCDoH collaborator, Dr. Cloete, who will ensure representation of health services implementation in collaboration and coordination with stakeholders. Through this administrative and stakeholder engagement core, we propose to: 1) Strategically guide the Center’s efficiency, productivity, and success through administrative support, infrastructure, and program management that synergizes activities across the Center’s cores and projects; and 2) Foster effective collaboration, coordination, decision-making, knowledge and resource sharing across the Western Cape Province informed by best practices on community engagement and ongoing theoretically grounded qualitative and quantitative research and engagement from regional partners. By the end of five years, the Empilisweni Initiative will contribute to the scale-up of HPV-based SAT as part of the cervical cancer elimination goals through strategic management of the Center’s core and project activities for synergy, generation, and scientific advancement.